I had a great time. I studied electrical engineering and my department had moved from using Matlab to Python which made my life a lot easier. There was one class where we had to use a Matlab library but I was able to use Octave with the library. There weren’t any other programs we had to install there weren’t compatible with Linux. A lot of classes just required a web browser, no additional software, so no issues there.

I’m a fan of qtile. Used it when it was x11 only and use it on Wayland now.

I use a Belkin RT3200 (same hardware as Linksys E8450). They go for pretty cheap on ebay and I have no complaints.

I do the same. I have Debian with KDE and Kodi autostart on boot. Use Kodi most of the time but can tab out if needed.